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Was it about five years ago that Brazil's midfield was supposed to be Denison, Lucas and Anderson? I think those three would be the only midfield that would be worse than what Brazil has shown these last two games.

And as Maicon's 95th minute "shot" heads into orbit and the 1-10 over two games is made complete, I think I can count on my Brazilian fan colleagues to join me as we say: Yay! Club football is only a month away! Enough of this nation/state bulls*it!

I think some of the criticism of Brazil has been a bit over the top. They were wretched in the semi but today was irrelevant. The fact is they DID make the semi-final which is better than a whole heck of a lot of other teams. Yes they are BRAZIL! and they were at home but I think a semi-final appearance was a pretty reasonable outcome for this particular team.

David Luiz, who performed poorly in Brazil's 7-1 semifinal defeat to Germany, gave another masterclass in how not to defend.

The Brazil vice-captain headed the ball straight to Blind in the first half and he lashed the ball past Julio Cesar for the Netherlands' second goal.

The match started in the worst possible way for the hosts, who went behind within three minutes thanks to Van Persie's penalty, and Wijnaldum wrapped up the latest humiliating defeat for Brazil in stoppage time.

After a poor first-half showing, Brazil improved slightly after the break, thanks mainly to the efforts of Oscar, who was booked for diving when he should have been awarded a penalty following a challenge by Blind.

It criticizes Luiz, then describes the second goal (though it reads almost like Luiz had an own goal). Next, it talks about the START of the match saying "Van Persie's penalty" as though it's already been referenced. Finally we get the last goal.

But then we go back to the first half, juxtaposed with the second half. The article continues to go back and forth like this.

I think the PK call is the 'fairest' one, though not the letter of the law for sure.

First, his hand is still on Robben when Robben is in the box. But Robben absolutely made the most out of that. So much, I would have been tempted to card Robben and not award a PK.

By the letter of the law it should have been a red. But that's awfully harsh when Robben is flopping like he's been sniped. Yes the Brazilian grabbed his shoulder and pulled. PK. But I wouldn't have given a red also.

After this latest loss, SPI will have Brazil as rated 6th, behind France and the Netherlands, and near Spain. It appears that SPI, as opposed to betting odds, puts significantly more weight on recent results as compared to roster composition. That means team ratings swing much more rapidly in SPI than they do for bettors. For example, now Brazil is ranked significantly below Colombia (and near Chile). I highly doubt, if the two faced each other on a neutral field, Brazil would be the underdog.

Edit: for a laugh, see how Tango is now implying that Brazil's 7-1 loss might actually be showing how SPI was really a better model than if Brazil had won the game as predicted. And, FWIW, I loved what Silver did with popularizing solid data analysis in the political arena. He's just not doing it here.

2) Key for Argentina's defense is that they play six or seven men back at all times. But if the other team pushes numbers forward in attack, that leaves Messi free on the counter. So Argentina has been well-structured defensively, but has also been effective because other teams are forced to track Messi and aren't coming at them in numbers. Germany use their central midfielders in the attack more than anyone else in the tournament. How Löw adjusts to using his midfield against Messi is probably the big question.

I figure Germany are favorites. What I'm really hoping is that Löw keeps the attacking strategy going, which frees Messi for a couple of counters, and we get a real end-to-end battle of strength vs strength.

I'm at at an econolodge in Vernal, Utah waiting for the game to start. I think I'm fine with either team winning but would very slightly prefer Argentina for no overt reason. My prediction is Argentina stay organized and steal the game with a fluke goal, a moment of genius dr messi or higuain or win on penalties. I really hope there's no extra time as I'm eager to get back outside and try to chase down a sage grouse.

I don't think I really appreciated how damn good Boateng was before this tournament. I suppose I shouldn't have been shocked, since he plays for Bayern, but I thought he was just another one of the soft center backs the big clubs like to have.

Yeah Boateng really did have an excellent game today. Covered well, and I don't remember him missing a tackle. I could be wrong, but I don't think he was responsible for any of the misplays that gave Argentina their best chances.

McManaman opines that instead of Messi, the player of the tournament award should go to "Someone on the German team". I never understand this attitude. You don't even have a player in mind who deserves the award for any particular reason, your only criterion is that it must be someone on the winning team. Ex-athletes seem to be unanimous in this though.

Considering how Argentina started, they got further than I thought they would. Coming in the tourney I thought they'd do well, but I thought they'd outshoot teams until their D finally gave in. Turned out the opposite.

You don't even have a player in mind who deserves the award for any particular reason, your only criterion is that it must be someone on the winning team. Ex-athletes seem to be unanimous in this though.

Unless there is a true standout player of the tournament, I think it makes sense to give it to someone on the winning team. I see no particular reason to give it to Messi this year.

McManaman opines that instead of Messi, the player of the tournament award should go to "Someone on the German team". I never understand this attitude. You don't even have a player in mind who deserves the award for any particular reason, your only criterion is that it must be someone on the winning team. Ex-athletes seem to be unanimous in this though.

Shouldn't it go to Rodriguez? He scored in every game his team played, and they outperformed expectations.